


To Spend Forever and a Day with You

by Ashfen



Series: A Decade of Love [10]
Category: Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (2013)
Genre: Fluff, Jay thinks he's so slick, Kiss and Cry, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Nick and Jay are disaster queers, the apartment outside of New York
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2021-01-23 18:27:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21324670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashfen/pseuds/Ashfen
Summary: 1936.Jay Gatsby is planning something. Nick knows that much, at least.
Relationships: Nick Carraway & Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway/Jay Gatsby
Series: A Decade of Love [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1537345
Comments: 15
Kudos: 157





	To Spend Forever and a Day with You

"Nick, would you be opposed to going on a stroll with me tomorrow evening?"  
The man looked up from his papers curiously, but didn't speak at first.  
"No, not at all. What's with you, though? You normally just ask as soon as you feel like leaving."  
"Just wanted to make sure you could come this time old sport."  
Nick raised an eyebrow and put the sheets down.  
"You're planning something Jay, and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it."  
"Oh come on, Nick! It'll be nice, I promise; nice and simple as can be."  
With that the man - who had been previously seated at the kitchen table across from him - got up and traveled over to lean on top of Nick, his arms loosely crossed over his chest. Nick opted to try and ignore the arms just barely brushing against his neck.  
"Jay, I don't believe you know the meaning of the word 'simple'."  
"I do! Honest."  
The other reached down to gently take Nick's hand, lifting it up to his lips before delicately kissing his knuckles.  
Oh lord.  
"It's nothing but an evening walk Nick, trust me. Tomorrow night at nine?"

With negotiation skills like that, how could Nick possibly find a way to say no? So there he was, shifting restlessly in his chair the next morning. Why was Jay being so insistent about this? What was he planning? It was driving him insane, not knowing what was in store.  
He didn't have time to be thinking about this, he was at work. With a quick shake of his head, the man returned to the tribunal with a purposeful intent. He'd finished the rough draft a few weeks ago, but revising it proved to be troublesome; he could never stay focused on it no matter what he did. Nick was sure that he'd read the same sentence over again at least three times already, yet the words still didn't seem to register.  
Why? It had been an issue he'd faced in the past, when he first tried his hand at writing; he couldn't keep up with the deadlines, so it didn't work out. When writing _The Great Gatsby_ he'd been so invested in the project that he finished it ahead of his set schedule, and hadn't encountered the problem of a lack of comprehension even once; however, it only got worse with every novel after.  
The publishers broke off the contract after he missed a deadline by five months, said he was too unreliable. He was. Since he'd been with Gatsby again his focus had managed to stay with him, so why was he struggling again? He couldn't lose this job; they couldn't afford it, not with the economy the way it was.

Nick got back to the apartment at around seven, giving a tired smile to the man carefully studying records at the kitchen table before sinking onto the couch. They sat in a comfortable silence for long enough that he almost fell asleep there.  
"Would you rather eat dinner before or after our plans?"  
"Mm…. After. I don't think I'll have enough time to make anything before."  
"Oh, no; I'd be making it old sport."  
Intrigued, he put in the effort to lift his head up from the arm rest to peek over at Jay. His gaze hadn't shifted from the records, but his leg was bouncing with a mind of its own; he was anxious about something.  
Interesting.  
"Well what do you want to do, Jay?"  
"Eating before would probably be more proper, but… hm…"  
"You're putting a lot of thought into this; I thought we were just having a walk?"  
Nick raised an eyebrow in teasing suspicion, and Gatsby quickly looked over at him in complete bewilderment. Oh dear, his face was red. How charming.  
"We are! You're just looking into it too much!"  
"Am I?"  
"Undoubtedly. You overthink things all the time."  
An inattentive 'Hmm' came from Nick as he lowered his head again, smiling knowingly to himself. Jay wasn't fooling anyone. He had a tendency to over-plan things when he felt they were important, it gave him away every year around the holidays. After another long period of silence, the man spoke up again just as Nick was beginning to doze off.  
"Eating before probably works best. Is that alright with you old sport?"  
"Of course Jay."  
"You can sleep while I'm cooking, if you'd like."  
"I already planned to."  
"I figured. Rest well Nick."

Jay couldn't keep still to save his life during their walk, his eyes always flitting everywhere around them as he wrung his hands over and over. Whatever he was planning to do, it was clearly big.  
"Nick, old sport, how long has it been since we ran into each other again?"  
"It's been ten years I'd say."  
"Ten years, right. It feels like it's only been a few months, you know. Time always seems to run faster with you."  
"Does it?"  
"It does. I don't think even twenty years more with you would feel like enough."  
Nick jumped slightly when the man took his hand, not because of the touch - he was used to the touch - but because his hand was shaking.  
"Jay?"  
"I… I wish I could spend forever and a day with you."  
"What are you-"  
"I know I can't. But what about the rest of our lives?"  
"Wait-"  
Before he could get a single sentence in Gatsby was on one knee, still holding Nick's hand in his own trembling one as he reached into his pocket with the other.  
A silver band.  
Several emotions spilled over at once. Confusion. Fear. Love. Joy. He didn't know which one was causing the tears lightly trickling from his face.  
"You shouldn't-- shouldn't joke like this, Jay."  
"Would I have bought a ring if I was joking?"  
"But isn't this too soon?"  
"If ten years is too soon for you, I might be dead before you're ready."  
"Ten year-- what are you talking about?"  
Gatsby's eyes widened as he rose from the ground.  
"Nick… what do you think we've been doing all this time?"  
"I always assumed we were simply intimate friends…"  
"We've kissed. Several times."  
"Intimate."  
"Nick, we've had sex almost every time the two of us have gotten drunk."  
"I thought I was a replacement for Daisy!"  
The admission was enough for Nick to let loose a sob, and Jay firmly embraced him.  
"Oh God, Nick…"  
"Because the first time was right after everything had happened, and we'd never talked about it again, so I thought-"  
"Nick, Nick dear. With all the time we've spent together Daisy would be a replacement for _you_ at this point; I swear it."  
"And you're not just saying that?"  
"No, no, of course not."  
Nick held stiffly onto him, the fabric of Jay's jacket wrinkled under his grip as the man secured him; stabilized him.  
He was loved. Loved by someone he never wanted to let go of.  
"Yes."  
"Yes? To what?"  
"What do you think?"  
Gatsby pulled back from him slightly with a puzzled expression, his gaze fixed on Nick's shakily beaming eyes. As understanding slowly dawned on him, the man's face lit up with a broad smile. The laugh he let out as he lifted Nick was loud enough for the world to hear. The one Nick returned it with was just as genuine.  
Two men in love. Two men ready to spend the rest of their lives in each other's arms.


End file.
